The Eden Young Fellowship Raffle <3

Hey dolls,

Happy Thursday! Today we have some very special news – we are very proud to say that we are announcing the launch of the Eden Young Fellowship.

In 2023, we were left devastated by the loss of our best friend and Polyester’s Managing Editor Eden Young. For the past few months, we have been working behind the scenes to consider how to best honour her immense legacy in the media, and today we are sharing our plans. To commemorate her life, we are launching a fellowship program, via which we will employ a working-class journalist who will receive a fully paid, full-time, year-long position in the Polyester team. 

In order to raise funds for the fellowship, we have collaborated with those close to Eden and creatives from our community to host a raffle via our website, polyesterzine.com. For £10 per ticket, entrants can be in the running to win bespoke, sentimental and extraordinary prizes in a draw to take place at the end of February, with entries closing on Friday 9th February. Prizes include specially donated items from designers including Maison Valentino, Heaven by Marc Jacobs and Clio Peppiatt, and much more. You can check them all out here (Opens in a new window) and read more about the Fellowship and raffle here (Opens in a new window).

Elsewhere on the Dollhouse, we’ve got a musing on the popularity of ciggies and vapes, new serialised fiction and much more, so let’s jump in!

From Cigs to Rollies to Vapes, Why Has Having a Puff Remained Popular? (Opens in a new window)

Elif Türkan Erisik explores the lasting appeal of lighting up over the years.

Dreamgirl: Chapter One Explores Making Friends with Your Partner's Favourite Pornstar (Opens in a new window)

Our new fiction serial, Dreamgirl by Emma Forrest, kicks off with a bang!

Community and Catharsis: Meme Page Admins on the Comfort of Making Content (Opens in a new window)

Mimi Francis enters the mind of the memelord with this reported feature.

Undressing Shanzhai: Gender and Authenticity in the Counterfeit Luxury Goods Market (Opens in a new window)

Stewie Myers looks into Shanzhai manufacturing and its unique relationship to gender.

I Talk to My Birthmark: Reimagining the Literary Genre of Body Horror (Opens in a new window)

And finally, Sophie Howe dives into the body horror genre, and finds “the value in leaning into the gore.”

See ya next week!

XOXO,

The Polyester Team <3